Sex differences in central adiposity, hemodynamic, and respiratory parameters among healthy young Nigerian adults: a cross-sectional study
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Human Physiology, Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
- 2Department of Human Physiology, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Rivers State, Nigeria
- 3Department of Internal Medicine, Kabale University School of Medicine, Kabale, Uganda
- 4Department of Internal Medicine, St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor, Gulu, Uganda
- 5Faculty of Medicine, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda
Abstract
BackgroundBody mass index does not capture regional fat distribution, which is now recognised as a stronger determinant of cardiometabolic and pulmonary function than total adiposity. Whether these associations are already detectable in apparently healthy young adults, and whether they extend to respiratory endurance, remains poorly characterised in sub-Saharan African populations.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study of 81 apparently healthy undergraduates (45 male, 36 females; aged 18–30 years) at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria, we measured waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and conicity index (ConI) alongside systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), resting heart rate (HR), and breath-holding time (BHT). Between-sex comparisons used independent-samples t-tests, corroborated by Mann-Whitney U tests after Shapiro-Wilk and Levene’s testing indicated departures from normality for several variables. Associations were examined using Spearman’s rank correlation, with sex-stratified analysis, exact coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (bootstrap, 10,000 resamples), and a significance threshold of p < 0.05. Multiplicity was controlled with the Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR, q < 0.05) applied consistently across both the nine between-sex comparisons and the correlation family; key associations were additionally tested by partial correlation adjusting for age and body mass index (BMI).ResultsWaist circumference did not differ by sex (80.54 ± 8.04 cm vs 79.00 ± 8.41 cm, p = 0.403), but WHR was significantly higher in males (0.85 ± 0.04 vs 0.80 ± 0.05, p < 0.001, surviving correction), indicating a more android fat distribution despite equivalent waist girth. Males had nominally higher SBP (122.04 ± 7.82 vs 118.25 ± 7.13 mmHg, p = 0.027) and longer BHT (43.02 ± 13.15 vs 36.94 ± 13.91 s, p = 0.047), neither surviving FDR correction (q = 0.076 and q = 0.092, respectively), whereas males had significantly lower resting HR than females at both thresholds (70.96 ± 10.68 vs 78.56 ± 11.40 bpm, p = 0.003, q = 0.014). Mann-Whitney U tests confirmed all between-sex conclusions except for WHtR, which reached nominal significance non-parametrically (U test p = 0.038) but not by t-test (p = 0.057); neither survived FDR correction. HR correlated positively with SBP in males (ρ = 0.325, nominal p = 0.030) but not females, and did not survive correction (q = 0.201). WHR correlated modestly and positively with BHT in males (ρ = 0.294, nominal p = 0.050), which likewise did not survive correction (q = 0.201) and weakened further after adjustment for age and BMI (partial ρ = 0.279, p = 0.063); no adiposity index correlated with BHT in females.ConclusionEven where absolute waist circumference is equivalent between sexes, WHR was robustly higher in males, consistent with a more android pattern of fat distribution. Sex differences in SBP and BHT, and a correlation between WHR and BHT in males, were observed at nominal significance but did not survive correction for multiple comparisons or adjustment for age and BMI; these findings are hypothesis-generating and require confirmation in an adequately powered study with objective pulmonary function testing before any claim of a sex-specific adiposity–respiratory relationship can be made. WHR may add information beyond BMI and waist circumference alone for early cardiometabolic screening, but this cross-sectional, single-centre dataset cannot establish the direction or mechanism of any association.
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BibTeX
@article{egharevba2026differences,
title = {{Sex differences in central adiposity, hemodynamic, and respiratory parameters among healthy young Nigerian adults: a cross-sectional study}},
author = {Jovita Eghe Egharevba and Mark Chidi Enyinnaya and Clinton Nwanaga Uche and Clinton Nwanaga Uche and Gerald Olwit and Grace Acomo and James Nelson Okema and James Nelson Okema},
journal = {Frontiers in Physiology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fphys.2026.1949970},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2026.1949970},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Sex differences in central adiposity, hemodynamic, and respiratory parameters among healthy young Nigerian adults: a cross-sectional study
AU - Jovita Eghe Egharevba
AU - Mark Chidi Enyinnaya
AU - Clinton Nwanaga Uche
AU - Clinton Nwanaga Uche
AU - Gerald Olwit
AU - Grace Acomo
AU - James Nelson Okema
AU - James Nelson Okema
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - Frontiers in Physiology
DO - 10.3389/fphys.2026.1949970
UR - https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2026.1949970
AB - BackgroundBody mass index does not capture regional fat distribution, which is now recognised as a stronger determinant of cardiometabolic and pulmonary function than total adiposity. Whether these associations are already detectable in apparently healthy young adults, and whether they extend to respiratory endurance, remains poorly characterised in sub-Saharan African populations.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study of 81 apparently healthy undergraduates (45 male, 36 females; aged 18–30 years) at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria, we measured waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and conicity index (ConI) alongside systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), resting heart rate (HR), and breath-holding time (BHT). Between-sex comparisons used independent-samples t-tests, corroborated by Mann-Whitney U tests after Shapiro-Wilk and Levene’s testing indicated departures from normality for several variables. Associations were examined using Spearman’s rank correlation, with sex-stratified analysis, exact coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (bootstrap, 10,000 resamples), and a significance threshold of p < 0.05. Multiplicity was controlled with the Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR, q < 0.05) applied consistently across both the nine between-sex comparisons and the correlation family; key associations were additionally tested by partial correlation adjusting for age and body mass index (BMI).ResultsWaist circumference did not differ by sex (80.54 ± 8.04 cm vs 79.00 ± 8.41 cm, p = 0.403), but WHR was significantly higher in males (0.85 ± 0.04 vs 0.80 ± 0.05, p < 0.001, surviving correction), indicating a more android fat distribution despite equivalent waist girth. Males had nominally higher SBP (122.04 ± 7.82 vs 118.25 ± 7.13 mmHg, p = 0.027) and longer BHT (43.02 ± 13.15 vs 36.94 ± 13.91 s, p = 0.047), neither surviving FDR correction (q = 0.076 and q = 0.092, respectively), whereas males had significantly lower resting HR than females at both thresholds (70.96 ± 10.68 vs 78.56 ± 11.40 bpm, p = 0.003, q = 0.014). Mann-Whitney U tests confirmed all between-sex conclusions except for WHtR, which reached nominal significance non-parametrically (U test p = 0.038) but not by t-test (p = 0.057); neither survived FDR correction. HR correlated positively with SBP in males (ρ = 0.325, nominal p = 0.030) but not females, and did not survive correction (q = 0.201). WHR correlated modestly and positively with BHT in males (ρ = 0.294, nominal p = 0.050), which likewise did not survive correction (q = 0.201) and weakened further after adjustment for age and BMI (partial ρ = 0.279, p = 0.063); no adiposity index correlated with BHT in females.ConclusionEven where absolute waist circumference is equivalent between sexes, WHR was robustly higher in males, consistent with a more android pattern of fat distribution. Sex differences in SBP and BHT, and a correlation between WHR and BHT in males, were observed at nominal significance but did not survive correction for multiple comparisons or adjustment for age and BMI; these findings are hypothesis-generating and require confirmation in an adequately powered study with objective pulmonary function testing before any claim of a sex-specific adiposity–respiratory relationship can be made. WHR may add information beyond BMI and waist circumference alone for early cardiometabolic screening, but this cross-sectional, single-centre dataset cannot establish the direction or mechanism of any association.
SN - 1664-042X
ER -